Download or read book The State of Local Democracy in the Western Balkans written by Elena Gadjanova and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A prime political objective of the EU is to bring long-lasting stability to, and foster democratisation in, the Western Balkans. This study provides a snapshot of the state of democracy at the local level in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia (including Kosovo) and Montenegro. It examines a number of factors such as: degree of fiscal and legal autonomy; provisions for citizens' involvement in decision-making; implementation of minority rights; civil society; media. It also looks at the strength and salience of central state institutions, issues of self-determination and ethnicity, and past international involvement. An analysis of the achievements and challenges to democracy at the local level is done on a country-by-country basis.
Download or read book The Rise of Authoritarianism in the Western Balkans written by Florian Bieber and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-09-30 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the stagnation of democracy in the Western Balkans over the last decade. The author maps regional features of rising authoritarianism that mirror larger global trends and, in doing so, outlines the core mechanisms of authoritarian rule in the Balkans, with a particular focus on Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia. These mechanisms include the creation of constant crises, the use of external powers to balance outside influences, as well as state capture. The authoritarian patterns exist alongside formal democratic institutions, resulting in competitive authoritarian regimes that use social polarization to retain power. As the countries of the Western Balkans aspire, at least formally, to join the European Union, authoritarianism is often informal.
Download or read book Hunger and Fury written by Jasmin Mujanović and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Argues that the Balkans are on the cusp of a historic socio-political transformation rather than renewed ethnic strife
Download or read book Illiberal Politics in Southeast Europe written by Damir Kapidžić and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-09-30 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The world is increasingly becoming less democratic and this trend has not left Southeast Europe untouched. But instead of democratic breakdown what we are witnessing is a gradual decline and the rise of competitive authoritarian regimes. This book aims to give a country-by-country overview of how illiberal politics has led to a decline in democracy and the re-emergence of autocratic governance in Southeast Europe, more specifically in the Western Balkans. It defines illiberal politics as the everyday practices through which ruling parties undermine democratic institutions in order to remain in power. Individual chapters examine recent political developments and identify practices of illiberal politics that target electoral institutions, rule of law, media freedom, judicial independence, and enable political patronage, while several thematic chapters comparatively explore cross-regional patterns. This book addresses academics, policymakers, and practitioners with professional interest in Southeast Europe or democratic decline and is both timely and relevant as the European Union attempts to reengage with the countries of the Western Balkans. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Southeast European and Black Sea Studies.
Download or read book Bibliography of Sources on the Region of Former Yugoslavia Volume III written by Rusko Matuli? and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 1998 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Western Intervention in the Balkans written by Roger D. Petersen and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011-09-30 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Conflicts involve powerful experiences. The residue of these experiences is captured by the concept and language of emotion. Indiscriminate killing creates fear; targeted violence produces anger and a desire for vengeance; political status reversals spawn resentment; cultural prejudices sustain ethnic contempt. These emotions can become resources for political entrepreneurs. A broad range of Western interventions are based on a view of human nature as narrowly rational. Correspondingly, intervention policy generally aims to alter material incentives ('sticks and carrots') to influence behavior. In response, poorer and weaker actors who wish to block or change this Western implemented 'game' use emotions as resources. This book examines the strategic use of emotion in the conflicts and interventions occurring in the Western Balkans over a twenty-year period. The book concentrates on the conflicts among Albanian and Slavic populations (Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia, South Serbia), along with some comparisons to Bosnia.
Download or read book The Europeanisation of the Western Balkans written by Jelena Džankić and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-09-21 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume casts a fresh look on how the political spaces of the Western Balkan states (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania) are shaped, governed and transformed during the EU accession process. The contributors argue that EU conditionality in the Western Balkans does not work ‘effectively’ in terms of social change because rule transfer remains a ‘contested’ business, due to veto-players on the ground and strong legacies of the past. The volume examines specific policy areas, salient in the enlargement process and to a different degree incorporated in the accession criteria, as well as EU foreign policy in the spheres of post-conflict stabilisation, democratization and the rule of law promotion.
Download or read book The Western Balkans in the World written by Florian Bieber and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-06-26 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a detailed understanding of how different types of engagements impact upon the reform and EU integration of the Western Balkan region. It examines the influence of Russia, China, Turkey and the UAE in the region and analyses the range of existing links. Contributors offer an academic and multifaceted perspective of the role of external and non-Western actors in the region that goes beyond, on the one hand, the tendency of some Western decision makers to perceive all engagement by third powers as a sinister threat and, on the other, the view of regional governments of all external involvement as a boon coming at a time of Western neglect and reduced foreign investments. By looking at the importance of Russia, Turkey, China and the UAE in the Western Balkans, the book sheds light on one key arena of global competition, offers new insights on the strengths and weaknesses of Euro–Atlantic integration and advances our knowledge of foreign policy and its economic, social and security dimensions for small and medium-sized countries. It will be of interest to academics, postgraduate and research students, and think-tankers with research interest in IR and Southeast European Studies. European decision makers will also gain an insight into the extent of non-Western influence in the region.
Download or read book Party Responses to the EU in the Western Balkans written by Marko Stojić and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-09-04 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines how European issues have played out in Serbian and Croatian party politics since 2000, in the context of significant challenges brought by European integration of the Western Balkans. It provides a comprehensive analysis of how political parties in these countries have determined and shifted their positions on the EU, by exploring the effect and interaction of party ideology and strategy, position within the party system, relations with the general public and voters as well as transnational party linkages. The author argues that the particular nature of European issues, closely related to crucial identity and statehood dilemmas in these post-conflict societies, largely determined party stances on the EU, feeding significant Eurosceptic sentiments. At the same time, a number of core parties underwent a rapid pro-EU conversion, pragmatically responding to internal and external incentives in the context of dynamic electoral competition and strong EU presence, and aimed at maximising their chances of securing executive office. The book will be of interest to advanced students and scholars in the fields of comparative politics, Western Balkan politics, and EU studies.
Download or read book Democracy in Times of Pandemic written by Miguel Poiares Maduro and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-11-12 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the most important democratic challenges of today, using the Covid-19 pandemic as a case study.
Download or read book Civil Society and Transitions in the Western Balkans written by V. Bojicic-Dzelilovic and published by Springer. This book was released on 2013-01-11 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the ambiguous role played by civil society in the processes of state-building, democratization and post-conflict reconstruction in the Western Balkans challenging the assumption that civil society is always a force for good by analysing civil society actors and their effects in post-communist and post-conflict transition.
Download or read book The Council of Europe written by Martyn Bond and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-03-12 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book provides a succinct and much needed introduction to the Council of Europe from its foundation through the early conventions on human rights and culture to its expansion into the fields of social affairs, environment and education. Founded in 1949 within a month of NATO, the Council of Europe was the hub of political debate about integrating Europe after the Second World War. After the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, it was thrust into the limelight again as the test bed where all newly liberated European states had to prove their democratic credentials. Now it is the political arena in which the closely integrating states of the European Union face the twenty European states still outside the EU. Its European Court of Human Rights hands down judgments which all member states must respect, and its monitoring activities report on conditions concerning democracy, human rights and the rule of law across the whole continent. The Council of Europe has negotiated international agreements against the death penalty, torture, corruption, cybercrime and terrorism. It works for political pluralism, media freedom and fair elections. The treatment for minorities, efficient local government and strengthening non-government organisations are part of its daily agenda. Today the states of Greater Europe come together to discuss their present and their future in the Council of Europe Providing a wealth of factual information and describing and analysing the key debates within the organization, this work will be of great interest to students and scholars of international organizations, European politics and international relations.
Download or read book Fiscal Decentralisation Local Government and Policy Reversals in Southeastern Europe written by William Bartlett and published by Palgrave MacMillan. This book was released on 2019-11-26 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edited collection provides a comprehensive geographic and chronological overview of the decentralisation processes in the successor states of former Yugoslavia and Albania during their transition and EU integration years, from 1990 until 2016. These countries present a unique laboratory for the analysis of economic, social and political change, having traversed armed conflicts, dramatic economic and political changes, and EU pre-accession processes involving deep institutional reform. They have also endured the Eurozone crisis, which has led to high levels of unemployment, wide fiscal gaps and dangerously high levels of indebtedness. Observing the quarter century-long transition from socialism to capitalism through the prism of decentralisation sheds new light on studying the political economy of the region and the current status of the individual countries in terms of economic development and their EU integration progress. The contributors enrich the wider literature on fiscal decentralisation in transition countries by exploring several broad questions on democratisation, the political economy of post-communist transition, the role of external actors in policy transfer and the issue of financial stability in the post-crisis period. William Bartlett is Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. He is coordinator of the LSEE Research Network on Social Cohesion in South East Europe and has carried out numerous research and consultancy projects, including those for the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, the European Training Foundation, UNDP and UNICEF. Sanja Kmezic is Lecturer at the Karl Franzens University of Graz, Austria. Kmezic is a co-founder of the non-profit think tank European Research Academy Belgrade (EURAK), Serbia and has worked as an advisor on various international development programmes aimed at local government and public administration reform. Katarina Đulic is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economics, Finance and Administration in Belgrade, Serbia. She is also a co-founder of EURAK and has carried out numerous consultancy projects for the International Finance Corporation, USAID and SECO aimed at governance and public financial management reform.
Download or read book Citizenship and the Legitimacy of Governance written by Italo Pardo and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-05-23 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Against the background of unease at the increasingly loose and conflictual relationship between citizenship and governance, this book brings together rich, ethnographic studies from EU member states and post-Communist and Middle-Eastern countries in the Mediterranean Region to illustrate the crisis of legitimacy inherent in the weakening link between political responsibility and trust in the exercise of power. With close attention to the impact of the ambiguities and distortions of governance at the local level and their broader implications at the international level, where a state's legitimacy depends on its democratic credentials, Citizenship and the Legitimacy of Governance initiates a comparative discussion of the relationship between established moralities, politics, law and civil society in a highly diversified region with a strong history of cultural exchange. Demonstrating that a comparative anthropological analysis has much to offer to our understanding, this volume reveals that the city is a crucial arena for the renegotiation of citizenship, democracy and belonging.
Download or read book Democracy Good Governance and Development in Africa written by Mawere, Munyaradzi and published by Langaa RPCIG. This book was released on 2015-10-24 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Questions surrounding democracy, governance, and development especially in the view of Africa have provoked acrimonious debates in the past few years. It remains a perennial question why some decades after political independence in Africa the continent continues experiencing bad governance, lagging behind socioeconomically, and its democracy questionable. We admit that a plethora of theories and reasons, including iniquitous and malicious ones, have been conjured in an attempt to explain and answer the questions as to why Africa seems to be lagging behind other continents in issues pertaining to good governance, democracy and socio-economic development. Yet, none of the theories and reasons proffered so far seems to have provided enduring solutions to Africa’s diverse complex problems and predicaments. This book dissects and critically examines the matrix of Africa’s multifaceted problems on governance, democracy and development in an attempt to proffer enduring solutions to the continent’s long-standing political and socio-economic dilemmas and setbacks.
Download or read book Freedom in the World 2018 written by Freedom House and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-01-31 with total page 1265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Freedom in the World, the Freedom House flagship survey whose findings have been published annually since 1972, is the standard-setting comparative assessment of global political rights and civil liberties. The survey ratings and narrative reports on 195 countries and fifteen territories are used by policymakers, the media, international corporations, civic activists, and human rights defenders to monitor trends in democracy and track improvements and setbacks in freedom worldwide. The Freedom in the World political rights and civil liberties ratings are determined through a multi-layered process of research and evaluation by a team of regional analysts and eminent scholars. The analysts used a broad range of sources of information, including foreign and domestic news reports, academic studies, nongovernmental organizations, think tanks, individual professional contacts, and visits to the region, in conducting their research. The methodology of the survey is derived in large measure from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and these standards are applied to all countries and territories, irrespective of geographical location, ethnic or religious composition, or level of economic development.
Download or read book Covid 19 State Power and Society in Europe written by Neven Andjelic and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-01-03 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the current state of society in Europe in general and the regimes and societies of the Western Balkans in particular. The pandemic and near-universal lockdown have provided an ideal cut-off date for the collection of indices from reputable academic sources that cover the nature of these regimes, individual human freedoms, economic freedoms, the rule of law, human rights and media freedoms. The aggregated findings from the 20 individual indices provide comprehensive data to support original findings and the characterisation of societies in 45 European states. Admittedly, there are differences in the methodologies and samples among the indices consulted. Nonetheless, taken together they offer a solid basis for developing arguments concerning the diversity of regimes, governance and societies in Europe and drawing well-founded conclusions on the nature of society in various parts of Europe. Though the book’s main focus is on the Western Balkans, the region is put in a pan-European context. The issues of migration, minorities, global geopolitics, the crisis of liberal democracy – they all play into developments that are specific to the Western Balkans. The book answers the question of whether the pandemic has allowed local regimes to strengthen their power and exert greater control over society, making it possible to formulate arguments regarding the future of Europe and its integrative processes. In closing, the book investigates Western Balkan regimes’ reactions to the pandemic in the context of governance, society and state power, before addressing the question of whether the future of the Western Balkans lies in the “liberal club”, or whether local hybrid regimes will become even more influential in the near future.
